Einar Jan Aas (born 12 October 1955) is a Norwegian former footballer who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He was the first Norwegian to play professionally in England and Germany.

Club career

Aas started his career in

Moss FK Moss Fotballklubb is a Norwegian football club, founded on 28 August 1906. They play in the 2. divisjon, the third highest division in the Norwegian football league system. They played in the Norwegian top flight between 1937-1939, 1953-1954, ...

in 1973. In 1976, they were promoted to the

Norwegian Premier League Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

, and ''

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

'' named him ''central defender of the year'' in 1977 and 1979. His professional career started at Bayern Munich, where he stayed for the 1979–80 season. Midway through the following season, he was transferred to

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, at the time managed by

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engl ...

. A broken leg put a premature end to his stay at the City Ground. He returned to Moss in 1984, and helped the club win its first and to date only League title in 1987, before retiring as a player.

International career

Aas debuted in the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

in 1978, and played 35 international matches in total, scoring three goals.

Personal

He has his education from the

Norwegian School of Sport Sciences The Norwegian School of Sport Sciences ( no, Norges idrettshøgskole, NIH) is a public university located at Sognsvann in Oslo, Norway. It has the national responsibility for education and research related within sport sciences. It provides educ ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aas, Einar Jan 1955 births Living people People from Moss, Norway Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Germany FC Bayern Munich footballers Bundesliga players Association football defenders Moss FK players Norway international footballers Norwegian expatriate footballers Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Norwegian expatriate sportspeople in England Norwegian footballers Nottingham Forest F.C. players English Football League players Norwegian School of Sport Sciences alumni Sportspeople from Viken (county)